How Effective Communication Skills Affect Business

Communication is key.

No matter where an employee falls in the organizational hierarchy, communication skills are vital to succeed, lead, manage, sell, collaborate, etc. Every email someone sends, phone call someone makes, or conversation someone has utilizes communication skills.

Communication plays a role in every facet of a business, from customer service to employee management, from entry-level employees all the way up to C-suite team members, and both internally and externally.

Organizations with effective communication skills have leaders who can provide consistent, timely, and honest information to their employees, help establish their organization’s brand, and create messaging that aligns with the mission and culture.

Where communication skills really come into play is with developing relationships. Every conversation between people is a building block to that relationship. C-suite members meet with shareholders, benefactors, customers, and employees. Managers meet with employees to discuss projects, give feedback, and disseminate information daily. Sales and customer services teams communicate with clients via phone call or site visit.

This also applies to daily conversations between employees, one-on-ones, team meetings, town halls, and company-wide emails. These skills will help develop trust and loyalty from the C-suite down to the customer.

How Poor Communication Skills Affect Business

Ineffective communication has a negative effect on an organization. It increases the likelihood of misunderstandings, customer relationships can suffer, and there could be increased anger and hostility.

Productivity rates can suffer since employees have lower morale – feeling unmotivated or disgruntled could lead to employees spending work time on non-work activities or complaining with colleagues.

There could be a higher frequency of missed deadlines, absenteeism, and turnover. Employees that don’t feel motivated may slack off, call off, or begin looking for a new position.

Almost everything about a business comes full circle, starting with the owner, moving to the employees, and ending with the customer. Good service is either a happy outcome or sad casualty of an organization’s communication skills.

Productivity and Communication

The success of any company is determinate on the efficacy and productivity of employees. This is where training comes in. Employees that are educated, well-trained, and knowledgeable will be better equipped in their day-to-day work to make decisions, relate to their peers, think critically, and more.

Developing communication skills offers many benefits:

Helps reduce misunderstanding and mistakes
When all employees are on the same page, rather than making assumptions or guessing, the work they produce will be more accurate.

Aids in problem solving
Productive communication in the workplace enables employees to solve problems more quickly. When faced with an issue, it’s much easier to speak clearly to assess and sort out the problem.

Ensures better collaboration and teamwork
Interacting regularly can help employees to work better together. Open communication can help resolve issues between different departments within the company.

Boosts idea generation and innovation
If employees know what matters to an organization, they can develop ideas for improvements and spot chances to be innovative along the way, and clearly explain how to implement those ideas.